A. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a cantilevered bottle support and in particular to a cantilevered bottle support having a support foot that is disposed oblique to the direction of the supported bottle to provide for both supporting the bottle and incorporating any desired graphic design.
B. Description of the Prior Art
There are a multiplicity of support schemes for holding and displaying objects, particularly bottles. Conventional cases and racks support bottles horizontally, vertically, and in the case of wine bottles, even at predetermined angles so as to keep the cork moistened so as to hermetically seal the cork. Some bottle holders cantilever the bottle in the direction of its length by gripping the neck of the bottle. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,180,066; 5,197,612; and 4,795,038 are typical examples of bottle support systems that cantilever the bottle by having the neck of the bottle pass through an opening in an upstanding plane. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,496,124 and Des. 329,781 are designed to provide that the upstanding plane, with cantilevered bottle inserted therethrough, be self balancing in an upright position.
Where support legs are attached to or incorporated in bottle holders of the Prior Art they are aligned with the direction of the bottle length. Even U.S. Pat. No. Des. 329,781 has a base that is elongated in the direction of the cantilevered bottle. The support legs of the prior art are aligned in this direction in order to provide a stable base for the bottle support. The bottle support will be stable over its base if the center of gravity of the combination of the support base and the supported bottle lies within the footprint of the support legs. When this occurs, the combination of the bottle and the bottle support will be self supporting--that is they will remain upright when placed on a horizontal surface. Hence support legs, when they are used, extend in the direction of the supported bottle in order to provide this self supporting function.
In all of these examples of the prior art, form follows function, that is the form or shape of the bottle support is dictated by the method of support. It would be desirable to have the form of the support system be independent of the support function so as to incorporate any desired graphic design onto the bottle support and still enable the desired support function.